“Home” for the winter

 Monday 10^th October; Astwood bottom lock to Droitwich Spa marina

We were up early today.  Dave has a train to catch.

It was another chilly morning and the moon, which rose behind the towpath hedge on our port side last night, was setting now far beyond the offside.  The sun was barely up and still well down behind the hedge.  I can’t remember now which of these photos has the truer colour of the sky - I have discarded another three and these two are what is left.

We set off for Hanbury Junction at 8.  It was cold and damp and no-one else was about.  Although we know this area well, it seemed unfamiliar, because in the eighteen months since we were last here the reeds have been cut!  We quickly tied up on the empty visitor moorings at the junction and swung into car collection day routine.  Dave left for the station straight away, and I got on with cleaning and packing.  He made it back in time for lunch, and then we rounded the junction towards Hanbury locks.   With volunteers on duty, the boat ahead was quickly on its way and we followed it down.

Hanbury Top Lock

The wind was extremely strong as we turned into the marina and moored at the wharf.  Even with the bow thruster we were grateful that Nick was around to take a rope and help us get tied up.  After a pump-out we moored close to where we used to be with Chuffed – this time next to Old Nick, the Ortomarine electric boat reviewed in Canal Boat.  Bow in – in this wind, stern first would have been a lot of effort.

We have a mooring here until the end of March, and we hope to have a local cruise before we sort Bonjour out for the winter.

1½ miles, 3 locks.

Trip stats: Calcutt to Droitwich Spa

Distance approx 62½ miles: 27m 5¼ furlongs narrow canals, 34 m 6f broad canals.

118 locks: 70 narrow, 48 broad

7 tunnels - Shrewley (433 yards long), Curzon Street (161 yards long), Ashted (103 yards long), Edgbaston (105 yards long), Wast Hill (2726 yards long), Shortwood (614 yards long) and Tardebigge (580 yards long) – a total of 2 miles, 5¼ furlongs underground.  (Thanks CanalplanAC).

Waterways cruised: Grand Union Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, B&F Digbeth Branch, BCN Main Line, Icknield Port Loop, Worcester and Birmingham canal, Droitwich Junction canal.

Throw in a boot

Sunday 9^th October; Stoke Pound to below Astwood bottom lock

We were up and about earlier than usual to maximise the chances of getting our Sunday newspaper of choice at the little shop in Ryebank Road at Stoke Works, so we were on our way to start the descent of  Stoke locks before 9.  Staff at the Queen’s Head were already onto the cleaning.  We were cosy in the bar area last night, thinking the people in the marquee outside would be very cold.  There are what look like sheepskins draped over the chairs to keep them cosy.

No-one moving on the canal though, or so we thought....  Hah!  There was a crew already opening the bottom gates on the top Stoke lock, though it was a while before their boat came round the corner.  They told us Arthur Owl was ahead of us too.   But with another boat coming up further down the flight, Arthur Owl had disappeared by the time we reached the bottom lock, on a mission for Sunday lunch at the Eagle and Sun at Hanbury Junction.   We disposed of rubbish at Stoke Bottom lock, where a decorated stone had been left on the bench. 

Throw in a boot to give your potion a kick

You see painted stones around the place occasionally, but this is the best I have seen.  Shame I didn't get the focus right!  We pulled in at the visitor mooring at bridge 42 a bit further on.  There used to be a decrepit fence along the towpath here, with overgrown waste ground behind it.  House building started a while ago further back towards the locks, and now there is a large estate with a wall and ornamental fence along the towpath.

I strode off to the shop.  It’s almost 15 minutes away, and if there was a bus – which there never has been at the right time – I could have ridden most of the way.  The bus shelter has been smartened up, with a painting which includes a narrowboat – but the construction of the shelter made it almost impossible to photograph.  I tried, but I can't work out which way up the photo should be, let alone where the narrowboat is!

The little shop, next door to The Butcheress, is small but useful, and they still had the paper I wanted.  Back at the boat I got the kettle on before we set off again.  Lunch would be a little late, once we had got down the Astwood flight.  Yet another lock beam is sporting a running repair – this is one of the upper locks, possibly the top.

Metal patches and a wooden sleeve

We made good time down the flight.  I always like to have a nose over the fence into the garden at the second to bottom lock.  The path and the gnomes are spruced up all ready for winter.

But the season is not over yet – their runner beans are looking magnificent in spite of the dry summer and are still cropping in October.

Below the bottom lock is one of our favourite mooring spots.  We chose the last patch of sun before the reeds and had lunch.  Then there were jobs to be done and a dog to be walked.  I took Meg along the footpath from the bottom lock to the grounds of Hanbury Hall, now owned by the National Trust.

The park is a popular area for families and there are several footpaths in the area for circular walks taking in the canal.  Large trees that have fallen in the past have been left, providing habitat for creatures, a playground for children and a good subject for a photograph.

Gentle decay

You need knees and hips in good working order for the walk we did.  The stiles are high and vertical and I was grateful for something to hang onto to help me over.  They all have handholds of some kind, all worn smooth and splinter-free by hundreds of hands.

Smooooth hand-hold

Back at the boat, Dave had been working on the woodwork on the cratch. It was originally all varnished, which we have always thought looked a bit odd.  He had made up a board as he did for Chuffed, though he's not happy with the diamonds.  As most of the varnish had flaked away it didn’t take long for him to rub the rest down ready for some paint, and was getting a coat of primer on as we returned.  But what colour to use as a topcoat? 

Probably red.  Or grey, as the undercoat looks quite nice.

It wasn’t particularly cold so we didn’t bother with the fire.

At the top lock at the Camp Hill flight, the steerer of the hire boat was fishing out some bits of branch above the top gate, and nearly went in the canal when he put his foot down a hole.  I reported it a couple of days ago and got an email from CRT today telling me it had been filled and made safe.

3 miles, 12 locks

 

The lovely Tardebigge flight

Saturday 8^th October; Tardebigge top pound to Stoke Pound

When I took the dog out first thing this morning it was freezing cold, but the sky was clear.   The sun was still well down behind the hedge.  We weren’t too bothered about when we started to tackle the flight.  Most of the locks empty themselves overnight so we would have to turn them whether we started first or followed another boat down, but we didn’t want to wait for a boat to come up first – there may not have been one!  I took last night’s chicken bones along to the skip before we left, and met the lady from the hire boat we had followed yesterday, which was moored above the top lock.  They looked nearly ready to leave, though they said they weren’t in a rush as they had contacted CRT and asked for volunteers to help them down.  By the time I got back to last night's mooring, about 9 o’clock, Dave had already left to set the first lock and had even started the next one filling.  It was cold as the sun still hadn’t risen above the towpath hedge, but we were soon into our rhythm of shared work.

Passing the reservoir

Two fishermen had left their cars in the little car park by bridge 54 and were drinking their tea looking gloomily down to the lack of water in the reservoir.  As a third crossed the bridge to join them, I spied the familiar sight of a volunteer setting the next lock for us.  She was a little disconcerted to find that we weren’t Arthur Owl who she had come to help, but closed up the lock Dave had just left as her companion arrived, and they went on up to find them.  After a while they reappeared – Arthur Owl was nowhere near ready to leave, so they helped us instead as there was no-one else on the flight. As we approached Halfway House bridge, we learnt from Tom that many years ago the Halfway House was a pub, a very welcome pause for the early boatmen with stabling for horses too.  It became a doctor’s surgery for a while, and eventually a private house.

We approached the Dog House, the one with all the giant radio aerials.  No longer the Noisy Dog House, as the one that barked so much died a while ago, and the Alsatian who is left spends much more time in the house and doesn’t bark at passing dogs.

Debbie and Tom helping Dave down by the Dog House

Tom also told me the origin of the term ‘toe-rag’ as a term of abuse.  He said the men who legged boats through Tardebigge tunnel were so poor that they couldn’t afford new boots and used to beg rags to stuff into the holes.  I don’t know how true that is – my parents certainly knew the term and as children we were forbidden to use it.  They grew up near the Lee Navigation in the East End, so the term might have come south with the boatmen, or the story could be rubbish!

Dave was getting a bit bored just steering by now, so we were quite pleased when boats started coming up and we suggested Debbie and Tom gave someone else a hand.  Even though the flight has 30 locks (29 in one go if you moor below the top lock), we really enjoy working the flight – the work isn’t particularly heavy and the surrounding countryside is lovely, especially in the sunshine we had today.  We were down by lunchtime – a mere 3 hours, though of course we had help for over half of it.

Short offside beam on the bottom lock

After lunch we booked a table at the Queen’s Head, for a little earlier than we would have liked but on a Saturday we were lucky to get a table at all.  Meg and I went for a walk and found a footpath between the first two Stoke locks leading into a field which had been mown, so Meg enjoyed a good game of ball before we went back for another cup of tea.

Hurry up Mum

We got on with various jobs during the afternoon as four more boats came down the flight.  Dave was concerned about the amount of water collecting in the bilge after rain and discovered that the drain from the surround of the engine board was blocked.  The hose was the ideal size and flexibility to push out the dust, leaves and cobwebs.

The remains of yesterday’s rain still sitting in the surround soon drained away.

Arthur Owl was the last boat to come down, after 5 which is quite late.  I wonder whether the volunteers were still around to help them – it would have been a very long day for them if they had been!  If you ask for help, you really should take it when it is offered and not expect it at your own convenience.  I think they may have been waiting for the first boat to come up, but we didn’t speak to them again to find out.  The first boat down after us moored just in front and brought their beautiful Maine Coon cat out on his harness – he doesn’t go far, it is more a safety precaution in case he falls in. 

What a gorgeous boy!  I think it is the largest cat breed and he has a dog harness as he is too big for a cat one.  The couple is planning to spend the winter cruising – with two dogs as well I imagine there will be a lot of mud as well as fur inside!

We had a lovely meal in the pub, though I had to nick a cushion from a spare chair as I find the chairs in the bar area (which we prefer to the main dining room) rather too low for comfort.  I was interested to see whether Robert Redford and Paul Newman still graced the doors in the Ladies’ – they were looking a little the worse for wear when we visited in the first Covid year.  But they have been refurbished and are still strutting their stuff.

Butch and Sundance

The young lady who came in after me was rather taken aback, as you would be if you’ve not seen them before.  She was only about 30 and had never heard of either actor, or even the film.  How are the famous soon forgotten!  We lit the fire when we returned to the boat.  What a lovely day!

2¼ miles, 29 locks